Art News – weekly round-up

Mosul museum attacked, Ed Miliband on the arts and the Wellcome Collection's anatomy of a crime – we round up the top art stories of the week.

Islamic State video at Mosul museum

Mosul museum destroyed by Islamic State

Video footage released this week shows Islamic State militants destroying ancient and priceless artefacts in Mosul’s central museum. Kino Gabriel, one of the leaders of the Syriac Military Council, told the Guardian 'murder of people and destruction is not enough, so even our civilisation and the culture of our people is being destroyed.' The acts were apparently justified by the perpetrators as ridding the world of Assyrian and Akkadian polytheist idols.

Ed Miliband on arts

In his speech on Monday Miliband stated that a Labour government would offer a ‘universal entitlement to a creative education’. The Telegraph reports that he has promised his administration would work with the Arts Council to increase the number of outreach programmes offering creative opportunities to young people.

Henry VIII is by the book

A book that helped Henry VIII to build his case for an annulment from Catherine of Aragon, and which ultimately led to the break from Rome, has been discovered on the shelves of a country house in Cornwall. According to the Times the volume – a summary of works by the philosopher and theologian William of Ockham – is evidence of how Henry’s advisers searched for texts that would help them to undermine the authority of the pope.

Wellcome Collection reveals the anatomy of crime

The new forensics exhibition at the Wellcome Collection reveals the amazing progress of scientific discovery when solving cases, from doll house reconstructions to dissecting tables. The grisly subject of murder is also revealed in the work of artists such as Taryn Simon, reports Maev Kennedy.

And finally...

The S&M blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey has a rather cultural backdrop. The set is filled with works of art from the likes of Mark Rothko, Gary Hume and the Chapman Brothers. YBA director Sam Taylor-Johnson paid particular attention to the collection of businessman Christian Grey, and says it was designed to reflect 'his status, his connoisseurship and his youth’.